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removed to Dockwell Hospital for observation. The disease, however proved
to be Chicken-pox. In this case, till the diagnosis was definitely established
all the precautions that would have been observed had the diaease been
undoubtedly small-pox, were carried out. All the people in the house were
re-vaccinated, and the contacts kept under observation.
Measles.
1904 is the third year during the whole of which measles has not been
included in the list of notifiable diseases in the district. It is impossible to
give any accurate estimate of the number of cases that occurred, but there
were certainly many, judging only from the number of voluntary notifications
received from the schools. There is no reason to suppose that the total
number was above the average. Measles is essentially a disease of childhood,
and it is a mistake to suppose that it is always an unimportant one.
The fact that it was the cause of six deaths during the year, whereas
whooping-cough caused four, diphtheria only two, and scarlet fever not one
is worthy of note. In a very large proportion of cases the parents do not
consider it necessary to obtain medical advice, even when there is no doubt
as to the nature of the disease, till some complication has arisen that might
have otherwise have been avoided. It would be well could some means be
devised for insisting on all parents of children suffering from measles letting
them be seen at least once by a doctor, who would be able to warn those
responsible of the necessity for proper care. It is not to be assumed that
all voluntary notifications of cases sent from the school-teachers, in which
the disease is stated to be measles, are in fact measles. An experienced
teacher can in most cases recognise a child suffering from the early signs
of the disease, and will send it home and notify the health department. But
very often the teacher does not see the child. A message is brought that
it is kept at home because it, or one of the family, has measles, and this
statement is frequently accepted without verification. The great anxi ;ty of
the school authorities to exclude all cases of measles makes this complaint
a convenient and favourite excuse for keeping elder children at home, and
the unwillingness of the parent to call in a doctor at once makes it often
impossible to verify the diagbosis. A number of cases were investigated on
the same day that they were stated by the parents to be absent from school
on account of measles, and it was found that some of the children were
quite well, others were sufferring from complaints not measles, and only a